1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of telephone design and functionality. More specifically, it relates to user interfaces for telephones with voice-over-IP capability and telephony related services.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many phones used today follow a key/lamp pair paradigm that offers users with literally hundreds of options and features. The key/lamp pair is a button on a phone and a corresponding LED light or lamp. This combination of button and LED lamp can be found on most PBX type phones used in offices and in various other environments outside the typical residential home. Typically, many phones today have at least 10 to 15 key/lamp pairs, some with many more, an information display area, also having corresponding keys for choosing menu items in the display area, and a variety of other buttons and controls. In short, most phones used in business or other non-residential settings are too complicated and the procedures for using them non-intuitive for many users. Although such phones offer users with many sophisticated and useful features, most users know how to use four or five of these features without having to look in a user""s guide which, as a practical matter, is generally not done. Another problem stemming from the key/lamp pair paradigm is labeling the various keys with the name of the function, option, or speed-dial number. Despite the sophistication of today""s phone, much of the labeling is done by printing or handwriting small labels and taping or adhering them next to the appropriate button. When the function or label of a particular button changes, a new label needs to be made to replace the old one. This manual process alone is a sufficiently high hurdle to keep many people from fully utilizing their phones.
In addition to being overly complex and cluttered with options and features most people rarely use, even the better designed phones provide little information on how to navigate through calls and other features such as messaging and voice mail. For example, most phones still rely on a blinking light to indicate messages or that a call is on hold or a red light to indicate that the xe2x80x9cSet Busyxe2x80x9d feature is activated. The user interface and display features are not commensurate with the sophistication and complexity of many phones today. As a result, users are not instructed on how to navigate and utilize many of the features via a simple and intuitive user interface. Most interfaces on phones today are limited to small liquid crystal display areas and numerous buttons and corresponding lamps. With such interfaces, for example, it is difficult to provide quick access to frequently used featuresxe2x80x94an important characteristic of any user interface. Furthermore, given the shortcomings of many user interfaces on phones today, it is unlikely they can provide non-telephonic information to a user. Presently, phones are under utilized in that they are capable of providing in-depth data on messaging, phone directories, and third-party data.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a highly functional phone with a graphical display area capable of showing a rich depth of information on a screen for the user to see at any given time. It would be desirable to have a user interface in which buttons and keys are context-sensitive thereby reducing the number of mostly unused buttons on the phone. It would also be desirable to have a user interface familiar to users such as a window or segment-oriented interface for presenting information in an easily comprehensible and intuitive manner. It would also be desirable to give users on-demand access to context-sensitive xe2x80x9cHelpxe2x80x9d information on functions and options available on the phone at anytime, thereby enabling users to take advantage of features and functions on the phone.
According to the present invention, an interactive user interface displayed on a monitor as part of a telephone is disclosed. The interactive user interface allows a user to easily use basic and advanced telephony functions, telephony-related services, such as accessing phone directories and voice mail, and non-telephony services. These non-telephony services can include any information deliverable over, for example, TCP/IP or DHCP, and can include information such as stock prices, weather, sports data, and so on, typically from third-party services. It can also include intra-company information such as meeting schedules, conference room bookings, cafeteria menus, and so on. The interactive user interface allows a user to intuitively and efficiently navigate through all telephonic and non-telephonic services using menus and scroll bars. A user can also pull up context-sensitive xe2x80x9chelpxe2x80x9d information on the display at any time to learn more about a particular mode, option, or feature.
In one aspect of the present invention, a telephone having an interactive user interface displayed on a monitor connected to the telephone is described. The user interface presents one of numerous modes of use on the telephone. The user interface has several planes, segments, or frames including a header plane, a lines plane, a command selection plane, and a status plane. Although the term plane is used in the described embodiment, the term refers to any type of portion, frame, area, or segment on the screen that contains information viewable by a user. These planes or screen portions are generally non-overlapping and segment the display area in a way that allows the user to easily locate data items such as a menu option, status of the phone, time/date, phone numbers, and so on. The header segment displays basic information about the telephone such as a primary directory number assigned to the phone and time/date information. The lines segment displays context-sensitive data where the data, such an available line or a name from a phone directory, corresponds to a set of line keys or buttons on the telephone which the user can press. The command selection segment displays data on options, features, and other selections a user can make. These options and selections are context-sensitive and correspond to a set of soft keys on the telephone which the user can press to make a selection. The options and features available to the user can change depending on where the user is. Thus, the text above each soft key describing the option can change. The status segment displays data relating to either the options displayed in the command selection segment, as described above, or to the context-sensitive data in the lines segments. Generally, it communicates to the user, indirectly or directly, the status of the phone. Such an interactive user interface for use with a telephone facilitates navigating through numerous modes and services, each having various options, available through the telephone.
In another aspect of the invention, a telephone having context-sensitive information capabilities and a display monitor is described. The display monitor displays an interactive user interface for accessing telephony functions as well as non-telephony information. The user interface displays context-specific and descriptive information in text form (e.g., close to complete sentences) relating to a feature or option available through the telephone. The help information is displayed when the information button is pressed which can be done at any time or in any context.
In another aspect of the present invention, a telephone having a TCP/IP connection and a display monitor is described. The user interface is capable of displaying a network configuration menu in which information relating to the TCP/IP connection can be displayed and through which a user can adjust network parameters relating to the telephone. The network configuration information can also include displaying information related to a DHCP connection to the telephone which allows the user to adjust DHCP network parameters. In another aspect of the invention, a telephone having a display monitor capable of displaying non-telephony information is described. The non-telephony information can be retrieved from external sources such as the Internet or third-party information providers or be internal to the company implementing the telephone system. Such information can include stock market information, weather information, sports data, and other types of data that can be usefully displayed on the display monitor.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the lines segment contains numerous call segments where each one of the call segments displays data related to a call. In another embodiment, the different modes of the telephone accessible through the user interface includes directories, messages, settings, services, and information. In another embodiment, the directories mode includes a search segment in which a search can be performed using certain criteria and categories.